Quote: Referee ‘Saved’ Floyd Mayweather From Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor knew he’d most likely have to knock out Floyd Mayweather to win their boxing match last Saturday (Aug. 26, 2017) from Las Vegas, and before he gassed in the later rounds, he clearly attempted to do just that.

“The Notorious” won at least two of, if not the first three, rounds – even if some didn’t give him those – and actually put forth a showing that earned him the respect of much of the combat sports world aside from the boxing purists who did not and never will give him a chance as a legitimate boxer. Ultimately he succumbed to a 10th-round stoppage by referee Robert Byrd that many felt was too early even though Mayweather was clearly pouring on some heavy damage.

The stoppage may have been inevitable at that point; however, there’s one certain media personality who thought Byrd actually saved Mayweather from being stopped himself in the previous round. And not surprisingly, it’s FOX Sports 1’s “Undisputed” mouthpiece (and notorious McGregor mark) Skip Bayless, who revealed in a Facebook live video (quotes via MMA Mania) that he thought McGregor had Mayweather on the ropes in the ninth round, only to have Byrd pull him away unnecessarily:

“The whole thing flipped and turned in round number nine…Floyd Mayweather was in trouble in this fight. But, the turning point to me, and I would like to see the video of this came in round nine.

“It was ironically the round Shannon Sharpe predicted a knockout for Floyd and the round I predicted a knockout for Conor. Right away, Conor was coming off his best round, a bounceback round in round eight, in my card I had him ahead.”

“Then in nine, he comes out aggressive and he stunned Floyd. He hit him with a hard left, rocked him and buckled him and Floyd’s in trouble in the corner and when Conor goes in for the “kill,” it happened so fast I need to see a replay, but he had him and Robert Byrd pulls him away. In that moment, I thought that’s it. Again, I’m just going off my instinct, my gut and Conor had him on the ropes. He was then backed off to the middle of the ring and he had spent himself on that salvo. Eight took a lot out of McGregor.

“He took a shot to end it early in round nine and he got pulled off. I swear Robert Byrd saved the fight. He saved it. Byrd, longtime referee in Las Vegas, highly respected. but he gave Floyd a big break he didn’t deserve.”

Now, Mayweather did seem to be hurt by a big body shot in the ninth, and he did complain that it was a low blow, to which Byrd responded by stepping in briefly. We’ll never know how much trouble Mayweather was actually in that sequence, and it also appeared that it was McGregor’s last stand in a sense, as he clearly gassed shortly after that flurry.

However, it’s highly debatable just how much trouble Mayweather was actually in, and saying McGregor was ‘going in for the kill’ on a legendary undefeated boxer is a bit of a stretch. But it’s still not a surprise to hear that stance from the notoriously over-the-top Bayless, who spent the better part of the year predicting McGregor would shock the world and destroy “Money” while his “Undisputed” co-host Shannon Sharpe predicted otherwise.

What do you think? Was Mayweather in trouble during the ninth round, and did Byrd inexplicably save him from a potentially fight-ending sequence?